N.S. sisters start petition asking government to protect children from porn

Two sisters are on a mission to protect children from becoming addicted to pornography.

Kristine Smith-Podeszwa and Amanda Hatt have started an online petition asking the federal government to block access to porn in Canadian homes - a model now being rolled out in the United Kingdom.

“It’s not just affecting the user or the actors in the videos, it’s affecting society in general,” says Smith-Podeszwa.

“They are forcing the internet service providers to block all pornography so it’s the default,” says Hatt. “Then, if an adult within the household wants it unblocked, he can call and have it unlocked.”

The sisters say research indicates children as young as 10 years old can become addicted to pornography after seeing a pop-up ad and clicking out of curiosity.

“If you’re walking along the sidewalk in Halifax and someone exposes themselves to you indecently, that’s illegal,” says Hatt. “But if you’re on your computer in the privacy of your own home and someone exposes themselves to you, that’s not illegal, and we’re seeing a discrepancy there.”

Halifax privacy lawyer David Fraser says he can appreciate the intent and motivation behind their petition, but he does have some concerns.

He worries the filter would be more extensive than needed and end up blocking legitimate websites, such as breast cancer websites.

Fraser also says he doesn’t agree with the idea that someone would have to opt into freedom of expression and access to information, and wonders what would happen to the list of people that do.

“That list will exist,” says Fraser. “Could it be used for marketing purposes? Perhaps. Could it be something that the police would be interested in? Perhaps. So just collecting that sort of information in one place, with those sorts of characteristics, I find troublesome.”

More than 7,600 people have signed the petition in just one month.

“In an ideal world, every parent would be making sure their kids aren’t drinking and smoking, but clearly that’s not happening,” says Smith-Podeszwa. “That’s why we have those laws.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell

Photos

Kristine Smith-Podeszwa and Amanda Hatt have started a petition asking the federal government to block access to porn in Canadian homes - a model now being rolled out in the United Kingdom. (CTV Atlantic)

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